How to Apply for an Income-Driven Repayment Plan for Federal Student Loans

Which income-driven repayment plans are available?

Federal Student Aid currently lists four income-driven repayment plans: Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR), and Pay As You Earn (PAYE). The plan or plans available to you depend primarily on your federal loan types and when those loans were disbursed.

The repayment system changed substantially in 2026. A federal court order ended the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, so SAVE is no longer an available IDR option. Federal Student Aid also states that PAYE and ICR will be retired no later than July 1, 2028.

What if your loans were disbursed on or after July 1, 2026?

If all of your loans were disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, Federal Student Aid states that RAP is the only IDR plan available for those loans.

RAP bases the monthly payment on adjusted gross income and the number of dependents claimed on the borrower's federal tax return. Federal Student Aid currently describes RAP payments as 1% to 10% of adjusted gross income divided by 12, reduced by $50 for each qualifying dependent, with a minimum monthly payment of $10. The RAP repayment period is 30 years.

What if your loans were disbursed before July 1, 2026?

If your loans were disbursed before July 1, 2026, you may have more than one IDR option depending on the loan type and your borrowing history. Federal Student Aid currently lists RAP, IBR, ICR and PAYE, with different eligibility requirements for each plan.

IBR generally covers eligible Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans that meet the applicable disbursement rules. PAYE and ICR have separate eligibility requirements and are scheduled to end no later than July 1, 2028. If you have loans from both before and after July 1, 2026, different loans may qualify for different repayment plans.

Are all federal student loans eligible for IDR?

No. Loan type matters. Many federal student loans qualify for at least one IDR plan, but not every loan qualifies for every plan.

Parent PLUS loans have special restrictions. Federal Student Aid states that borrowers who currently have only parent PLUS loans are not eligible to repay those loans under an IDR plan. RAP also excludes loans made for parents, including parent PLUS loans and consolidation loans that paid off parent PLUS debt. Certain borrowers who consolidated parent PLUS loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan before July 1, 2026 may have an IDR option under the applicable transition rules.

Defaulted federal loans are also not eligible for an IDR plan while they remain in default. If your loans are in default, one route for restoring eligibility may be rehabilitation; see how to rehabilitate a defaulted federal student loan. Federal Student Aid also identifies consolidation into an eligible Direct Consolidation Loan with an agreement to use RAP as an option in some default situations.

If consolidation is relevant to your loan type or repayment strategy, review the separate procedure on consolidating federal student loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan before changing your existing loans.

What information do you need to apply?

The IDR Plan Request requires information about your federal loans, finances and household situation. For an online application, start by signing in to StudentAid.gov so the system can use your federal student loan information.

You will need to provide income information. For Direct Loans, Federal Student Aid recommends authorizing the U.S. Department of Education to securely obtain your federal financial information from the IRS when that option is available. This can speed processing and can also support automatic annual recertification.

If you do not use the IRS information-sharing option, you can provide acceptable documentation of income. Federal Student Aid identifies a recent federal tax return as one option. If you did not file taxes, acceptable documentation can include pay stubs or a letter from your employer, depending on your circumstances.

How recent must income documentation be?

When current income documentation is required, Federal Student Aid states that documentation other than a tax return must generally be no older than 90 days from the date you sign the IDR Plan Request. A tax return can be up to one year old when submitted.

If you submit pay stubs, include documentation showing the frequency of pay and provide at least one piece of documentation for each source of taxable income being reported. Copies of supporting documents are acceptable.

How do you apply for an IDR plan online?

The official application is the IDR Plan Request. Applying is free.

1. Sign in to your StudentAid.gov account.
2. Review your loans and their disbursement dates so you understand which plans may be available.
3. Use the Repayment Calculator if you want to compare estimated monthly payments, repayment periods and available plans before applying.
4. Start the IDR Plan Request and indicate that you want to enter an income-driven repayment plan.
5. Select an IDR plan for which your loans are eligible.
6. Provide the requested financial and household information.
7. If available, authorize retrieval of your federal tax information from the IRS, or provide the required income documentation.
8. Review the information and submit the request.

If you cannot complete the online application, Federal Student Aid permits you to use the official paper IDR Plan Request and submit it, together with required income documentation, to your loan servicer.

Can you apply while your loans are still in a grace period?

Yes, within the federal timing rule. If you are in the standard six-month grace period after graduating, leaving school or dropping below half-time enrollment, Federal Student Aid states that you can submit an online IDR application 60 days before the grace period ends.

If your loans are currently in deferment or forbearance, the online IDR application can also be used to request that your servicer end the deferment or forbearance early so you can begin IDR payments, or to request IDR when the deferment or forbearance ends.

How much does an IDR application cost and how long does it take?

There is no fee to apply for an IDR plan. Federal Student Aid also warns that borrowers do not need to pay a company for help completing the application; your federal loan servicer can provide assistance without charging you for that service.

Federal Student Aid states that loan servicers process most IDR applications within a few weeks, although some applications take longer. This is an official processing estimate, not a guaranteed completion deadline.

If your servicer needs additional time to process an IDR application, recalculate an IDR payment or update income information, it may place the loans into a processing forbearance. Federal Student Aid states that this type of processing forbearance will not last longer than 60 days.

How do you track your application?

After submitting an IDR Plan Request, sign in to StudentAid.gov and open the My Activity page. Federal Student Aid lists application statuses including Draft, In Progress, Canceled, In Review, Action Required and Completed.

If the application shows Action Required, open the request and review what is missing. One reason this status can appear is that a loan servicer requires a manual signature because it does not support electronic signature functionality for that request.

After your application is processed, your loan servicer determines and communicates the final repayment terms, including your monthly payment. A recent plan change may take 7 to 14 days to appear on your StudentAid.gov Dashboard after the change is made with the servicer.

What if your current student loan payment is no longer affordable?

You do not necessarily have to wait until annual recertification if your circumstances have changed. If your income falls, you lose your job, or your family size or number of dependents changes in a way that affects your IDR calculation, you can submit updated information and request a recalculation.

Federal Student Aid recommends signing in to StudentAid.gov and selecting Manage Your Plan on the IDR Plan Request page. You can also provide the required information directly to your loan servicer through its website.

When reporting changed finances, provide information based on your circumstances on the day you report it. If temporary financial difficulty makes repayment impossible and an IDR recalculation does not solve the problem, you can separately review deferment or forbearance options for federal student loans.

Do you have to recertify an IDR plan every year?

Yes. Federal Student Aid requires borrowers to update the income and household information used by their IDR plan once each year. Your specific recertification date appears in your StudentAid.gov account.

Federal Student Aid recommends submitting a manual recertification about 90 days before the displayed recertification date because your servicer needs time to process it. Missing the required recertification can affect your monthly payment.

If you provide consent for the Department of Education to retrieve federal tax information from the IRS and you meet the applicable requirements, your plan can be automatically recertified. Federal Student Aid states that autorecertification begins 120 days before the recertification date.

How does IDR relate to Public Service Loan Forgiveness?

Income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness are separate programs. Federal Student Aid states that most full and on-time IDR payments can count toward PSLF when the borrower also satisfies the program's other requirements.

If you work in qualifying public service, enrolling in an IDR plan alone does not complete the PSLF process. Review the separate procedure for submitting the PSLF form for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

When is another federal student loan procedure more appropriate?

An IDR application changes how eligible federal student loan payments are calculated; it does not resolve every type of federal student loan problem.

• If your loans are in default, address the default first through an available route such as federal student loan rehabilitation or an eligible consolidation route.
• If a school misled you or engaged in qualifying misconduct connected to your federal loans, the separate process is a Borrower Defense claim.
• If you may qualify for discharge because of a total and permanent disability, review the separate Total and Permanent Disability discharge procedure.

Using the procedure that matches the actual problem matters because consolidation, default resolution, deferment, discharge and income-driven repayment can have different eligibility rules and consequences.